According to reports, in October of that year, Psy took part in a concert in which he joined several other prominent artists onstage for a version of Korean rock group NEXT’s song “Dear American,” and after seizing the microphone, rapped a verse that stated “F—ing Yankees” and their families, should be killed “slowly and painfully.”

The concert reportedly took place months after the kidnapping — and subsequent beheading — of South Korean missionary Kim Sun-il by an Islamist group, who demanded the nation cancel plans to send 3,000 troops to support the U.S. war in Iraq. After the South Korean government refused to back down, Kim’s execution was videotaped, with the masked executioner stating “Korean citizens, you were warned, your hands were the ones who killed him … your soldiers are here not for the sake of the Iraqis, but for cursed Americans.”

Say again? Islamists murder a Korean missionary, and it’s the Americans who are the “F—ing” evildoers?

In case you think he just blurted it out on impulse, here are the lyrics,

Kill those f****** Yankees who have been torturing Iraqi captives
Kill those f****** Yankees who ordered them to torture
Kill their daughters, mothers, daughters-in-law and fathers
Kill them all slowly and painfully

Not what you would expect from a performer that claims,

“In my music I try to give people a release, a reason to smile.”

Psy now wants to go to the WH, though, so he’s issued a non-apology, starting with the classic,

“I will forever be sorry for any pain I have caused anyone by those words,”

by which he’s not apologizing for what he actually said, but for the pain he caused you.

And, by the way, I find it offensive and inappropriate that the White House would have him perform after finding out about this, for two reasons: the incitement to violence against Americans, and the fact that tomorrow’s is a Christmas concert.

Moreover, given the context, the MVRDV architects could hardly have not thought of the 9/11 attacks. The residential towers, after all, are supposed to be built at the entrance to the so-called Yongsan Dream Hub: a complex of business towers that has been designed by none other than Daniel Libeskind, the designer of the original “master plan” for the reconstruction of Ground Zero. Indeed, as the below image from Studio Daniel Libeskind makes clear, Libeskind’s Yongsan Dreamhub “master plan” closely resembles his original “master plan” for lower Manhattan.

The three trade deals, which would boost U.S. exports by $13 billion, were originally negotiated by the Bush administration but have been stalled for years as the parties wrangled over renewing the Trade Adjustment Assistance program, as well as over anti-union violence in Colombia.

Obama arrived on the base 3:19 p.m. local time (1 a.m. Eastern Standard Time) and received a rousing welcome from 1,500 troops in camouflage uniforms, many holding cameras or pointing cellphones to snap pictures.

South and North Korean warships exchanged fire off their western coast after the North’s vessel crossed a disputed sea border and ignored several warning shots, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in Seoul.

The North Korean vessel ventured 1.3 kilometers (0.8 miles) into waters claimed by South Korea at about 10:33 a.m. local time today, triggering a two-minute exchange of fire that left 15 holes in the South Korean vessel, according to the military. The North’s ship returned across the border in flames after it was badly damaged in the exchange, Yonhap News reported, citing a government official in Seoul it didn’t identify.

President Chávez of Venezuela told his country yesterday to prepare for war with Colombia, which he accused of being in league with the United States.

Only days after sending 15,000 troops to the volatile border, Mr Chávez, Washington’s main enemy in the region, ordered the Venezuelan military and people to prepare to “defend the homeland”, claiming that the US planned to use Colombian bases to mount an invasion of his oil-rich nation.

At least this time the troops were not disrupted on their way tot he border by a taxi strike. On Venezuela, John Noonan said,

Colombian troops are better equipped, better trained, and are battle-hardened from years of fighting the FARC. The only edge that Chavez has is in the air, with his relatively modern Russian Sukhois and F-16s vs. Colombia’s aging Kfir (Israeli modified Mirage 5) fighters, but that could be offset with one U.S. AWACs providing aerial radar assistance. President Obama will likely avoid involvement–not necessarily an unwise move considering Chavez wants to play up the U.S. as an imperial aggressor meme–but providing some token assistance in the form of a non-combat support role (like AWACs) might be enough to put Chavez in his place. And it would further signal other U.S. allies that the White House still takes our defense alliances seriously.

Which is exactly why Obama is very unlikely to send any non-combat support.